It's in Ghana's Interest for Ecowas Integration to Succeed - Prez

President Akufo-Addo says it is in the economic interest of Ghana and her enterprises for the process of West African integration to succeed, and become real as soon as possible.

According to President Akufo-Addo, his programme for Ghana's social and economic transformation, spurred on by a monetary policy that will stabilise the currency and reduce significantly the cost of borrowing, the introduction of a raft of tax cuts, and the shifting of the focus of Ghana's economy from taxation to production, should make Ghanaian businesses competitive in West Africa, Africa, and beyond.

"As the empowered Ghanaian businesses become stronger and more successful, they will need bigger markets. West Africa has a market of 350 million, which will expand to 500 million people in 20 years. This means that a genuine regional market in West Africa should be in our economic interest, for it will present immense opportunities to bring prosperity to the peoples in our region, with hard work, creativity and enterprise. The time for West African integration is now," he said.

President Akufo-Addo added that a functioning, common regional market in ECOWAS, has to be a very fundamental objective of Ghanaians, and, indeed, of all the peoples and governments of West Africa, and reiterated, once again, his commitment "to do whatever I can to strengthen the ECOWAS community."

The President maintained that "when we think of West Africa and Africa before our individual countries, we are not just being pan-Africanists, we are being true nationalists, because what makes West Africa better will make each of our individual countries better and more prosperous."

He thus urged all "who believe in regional integration to give enthusiastic support to Community decisions and inspire confidence and integrity in the structural organs of ECOWAS. Our people deserve no less, and the dream of prosperity will be within our grasp."

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Tuesday, 30th May, 2017, when he delivered a speech on the occasion of the 42nd Anniversary of ECOWAS Day, at an event organised by the Centre for Regional Integration Africa, at the Best Western Premier Hotel, Airport, Accra.

Follow EU example

Citing the processes which led to the establishment of the European Union (EU), the President noted that the EU, which has one currency and the free movement of goods, services and people across twenty-seven countries, has a nominal GDP of 16.5 trillion US dollars, making it the second largest economy by GDP in the world.

"The single currency, the EURO, has increased efficiency, lowered the cost of doing business and improved transparency in pricing. The overall effect has been to make Europe a much stronger economic and political player on the world stage," he added.

On the other hand, ECOWAS was established in 1975 to boost inter-regional commerce and co-operation, with the clear recognition that the countries of West Africa would be a more effective economic bloc and have a stronger political voice, if they came together.

"Today, however, while the EU is central to the lives of Europeans, ECOWAS is somewhat peripheral to the lives of most West Africans. And it is not for the lack of plans or even rules and regulations. It is simply that the political will to make integration real has been less evident than in Europe," the President lamented.

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